For One Last Breath
by Epsarrow
Summary: After being left to die, Magnus and Will must say their goodbyes as their air runs out. Probably worse than it sounds. Possibly suspenseful, but probably not... I'm bad at this.


**SANCTUARY**

**One Last Breath**

Sorry everyone. This isn't gonna be romance - though you might pick up on some here and there.

I generally hate romance, so I apologize.

Seeing as I never finish any of my stories I'm going to try and make it all a one-shot.

Enjoy!

I do not own Sanctuary. Why I have to put this message here is dumb.

The stunner was drawn as she rounded the corner, eyes and ears alert as she searched for any sign of movement. Her eyes were trained on the area directly in front of her and around her; her ears were focused within a 360 circle, desperate but anxious to pick up any sign of sound that may mark the presence of the abnormal which was supposed to be here.

Earlier they had received a distress call from this location - an abnormal seeking help.

Kate and Henry were both away on a black market raid, and Big Guy was holding down the fort at the Sanctuary.

Will, his own stunner drawn, was slinking beside her, looking just as alert but naturally nervous. He had considerable difficulty hiding how he felt - his eyes and his facial expression was like a big screen television, leaving his feelings open to the world.

Unbeknownst to him, or so she thought, Will had no idea just how nervous she was as well. Scared for him, in case he got hurt or something went bad and for many other things: the abnormal, the sanctuary, the team... So many things that could suffer if she made a mistake and was hurt or killed. So many things could go wrong each time she sent her people out on missions like these.

But there was rarely time to think about this.

Because today was the day they would not be as lucky.

She rounded the corner of the thin, dimly lit hallway and was unprepared for the fist to come flying in to her stomach with incredible force. She was jerked backwards at the same time as she doubled over, gasping for air and dizzy. Through the blood roaring in her ears she could hardly Will shouting her name followed by a furious grunt of pain. Recovering as quickly as her mind allowed, she pushed herself back to her feet, barely dodging a fist that was thrown at her face.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Will lying on the floor, dead or unconscious.

_Bloody hell!_

She spun to face the attacker. Judging by the body structure, she guessed it was a male - he was far superior in height, strength and weight than she.

But she could take care of herself - usually.

He moved first, with surprising speed for his size, swinging a wide fist towards her side. She moved to the right, ready to give a counterblow, but his foot suddenly knocked her feet out from under her.

As she fell she saw him moving towards her to strike, and as she hit the ground she rolled away.

But the wall got in the way and she didn't roll far enough to avoid a violent kick to the ribs that send up a yelp. She managed to move and avoided another kick, leaping past him and spinning to strike him in the kidney with her fist; he moved with lightning speed, too fast for her to see, and suddenly had her hand in his grasp.

In a simple movement he jerked her hand around and the bone in her wrist splintered with audible noise and she felt her entire body go weak, falling to her knees.

She vaguely heard what sounded like a chuckle and a sneer before her world went black with a flash of pain in her skull. 

* * *

><p>When she finally came to, it was pitch black around her.<p>

She felt as though she was suffocating in darkness, unable to see a thing yet at the same time she knew there was something there. She was awake and her eyes were open.

Suddenly she felt something moving beside her.

She flinched, trying to pull away, and whatever had brushed against her was gone too.

"Who's there?" A familiar voice asked. It was Will.

"Will?" Her voice sounded horrible and she was suddenly aware of how badly she hurt. Her chest ached, making it difficult to breathe, and her head was pouncing with a murderous intensity; she could barely think. She shifted, raising her hand to her head and winced. Her wrist was burning. But why?

Suddenly everything came rushing back to her.

The attacker, the short-lived fight. His speed. Was he an abnormal?

Probably.

"Magnus? Ugh. What happened? Where are we? Why is it so dark in here?" She heard a scuffling sound and then a grunt. "I can't sit up."

She began to feel the area above them, feeling herself stiffen as she felt the hard wood on her fingertips just inches above her head. As she felt around beside her, there was more wood; her feet hit more wood as she kicked out.

Her heart began to flutter with panic as she realized they were trapped...

In what, though?

"Bloody hell," she muttered out loud.

"Magnus, we need to find a way out. We can't be stuck in here," Will sounded as though he was about to lose it.

"Will, you need to calm down," she began, trying to fight her own rising panic. Where were they? Buried alive?

Suddenly she felt Will rolling over, but he unintentionally rolled in to her injured side and she let out a muffled cry of pain.

"Magnus!" She flinched slightly as hands met her face and then she could feel Will's laboured breathing in her ear. "I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?" His voice become the anxious and scared murmur that he got every time he felt as though he had done something horribly wrong. She could almost picture the shock and concern etched on his face.

"No Will, it's not your fault," she responded, her voice strained slightly as she tried to hide the pain.

"We've got to be calm so we can think of a way to get out," she spoke with fake confidence. Something told her that the man who had attacked them was a professional, which meant... They were thoroughly screwed unless someone could come get them before... Whatever happened.

"Okay. Calm..." She could actually hear him trying to relax.

"How long have we been here?" She thought out loud.

Silence.

It must have been ten minutes before words broke the silence.

"We're running out of time aren't we?" It was less a question than a statement. 

* * *

><p>By now they had tried nearly everything.<p>

Banging, scratching, screaming, kicking. Finally, exhausted, they both lay back in the dirt.

Already the air was growing thinning, and it was physically affecting them. Breathing was growing more difficulty and there was pain in their lungs and chest. It felt as though something was blocking the air from growing down, but it was just a trick of the body. There wasn't enough air left for a lung full.

Exhaustion, confusion, and a general feeling of being ill was settling over them.

_Ashley_, her deranged thoughts said. She unintentionally flinched at the memory. Her beautiful, wonderful, amazing daughter. Dead. Gone. Her heart ached painfully. She wanted to cry, but something in her heart said otherwise.

She would see her daughter again soon.

And all of her friends from long ago.

Once again her mind wandered, struggling with the fragments of what she knew - what she once knew - and what she might never know.

Will, Kate, Henry, Big Foot, John, Nikola, the Sanctuary, and all the abnormals she had ever helped. What about them? What would happen to them? A tiny spark of rebellion woke inside her. How could she leave so much behind? But did it really matter? Didn't everyone die anyway?

Her questions could not be answered.

Then there was Will. Strangely she felt as though she had to say something.

He beat her to it.

"Thank you for giving me... the opportunity to work with you at the sanctuary," he rasped. He sounded as bad as she felt. "I..."

"It was a pleasure Will..." Just the effort of speaking made her grow even weaker.

It wasn't long before her eyes drifted shut and the pain faded away in to nothingness. 

* * *

><p>"Magnus? Magnus! Come on, wake up!" The voice was loud and irritating compared to her warm, silent bliss. She wanted to stay. To not follow the voice.<p>

But it was familiar and she was drawn to it.

Pain hit her like a wave.

A small groan escaped her and she felt something cool on her forehead. Her eyelids flickered and they opened.

Everything was a blur, but when she looked hard enough she just barely recognized Henry's face.

"Henry," she managed.

His concerned frown broke in to a grin. "Hey, doc. We barely made it in time. You and Will are going to be alright."

He nodded to something beside her and when she looked, she saw Will lying across a stretcher. Kate was beside him and so were several paramedics.

Alive. Breathing.

But for how long?


End file.
